


A Single Wish

by Kataclysm22



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Drabble, Gen, all for you darling, birthday gift
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-17 11:31:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13658109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kataclysm22/pseuds/Kataclysm22
Summary: The gang conspires against one of their own on her birthday. (Gift for the lovely Lmere on her birthday. Enjoy!)





	A Single Wish

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lmere](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lmere/gifts).



“Come _on,_ Em,” Steve pleaded, drawing out my name and giving me the most pitiful look he could muster. “You can’t stay cooped up in this place on your _birthday_ , of all days. Let us treat you, please?”

“Steve,” I sighed, giving him that pointed look he was all-too-familiar with. “I have way too much work to do. I appreciate the gesture, really… But I really only have one birthday wish, and that is to relax at home in my pajamas with my friends. If you sincerely feel the need to do something for me, you can just order a pizza. Extra pineapple, how bout that?” I gave him a somewhat-hopeful expression, but that pouty look just stayed plastered on his face.

Out of all the Avengers, Steve Rogers certainly had the most convincing puppy dog eyes. Well… maybe only second to Bucky. Thank god he wasn’t here at the moment. There’s no way I could’ve handled both of them at the same time.

“As much as you know how I love pineapple on my pizza,” Steve continued, unfazed, “that’s not going to sway me.” He scooted my desk chair closer to where I currently sat cross-legged on my bed, surrounded by papers and textbooks and various other study materials. “We are going out tonight— _all_ of us—and we are going to have a good time.”

“Tell yourself whatever you need to, Steve… but I’m not going.”

His brow furrowed into a scowl as he wrapped one hand over the other, clenched into a fist. Stealing a glance up at his face, I saw him staring down at the floor in contemplation. There was no way to know what was going on in that head of his, but I really didn’t want to find out.

Suddenly, he stood up, hands placed on his hips. “This isn’t over yet, Emily,” he said, overly serious. “You mark my words.”

With a fond smile, I said, “Alright, Steve… consider them marked.” I gave him a haphazard salute as he walked out of my room. Ever since I’d joined the team, Steve seemed to make it his mission—apart from all the other, _actual_ missions we went on—to get me out of my shell. He was trying to be a good friend, and I was grateful for that, but sometimes it was just so… so—

“Irritating!” I exclaimed with a groan, rubbing at my temple. There was too much work to be done… Toooo much…

A knock sounded against my doorframe, causing my head to jerk up and see who had come to bother me now. “You called?” Bucky asked with a slight smirk, peeking his head in from the hallway.

I chuckled slightly, moving my dark hair out of my face. “Not exactly,” I admitted, shrugging. “Steve’s just been bugging me about going out tonight.”

“Out?” The look on his face indicated his confusion. Crossing his arms over his chest—one flesh, the other dark, shining metal—he leaned against my doorframe, trying to look casual. But the tension in his shoulders told a different story.

As the team medic, it was my job to be hyper-aware of my teammates’ bodies… in a totally, _non-_ creepy sort of way. I needed to be able to tell if something was wrong just by looking at them superficially, since more than a few of them were bull-headed enough to keep on fighting through the pain. Sometimes, I felt more like their mother than their colleague.

I offered Bucky a reassuring smile. Even after all the rehab and days spent in a Wakandan lab, his memory sometimes slipped. “Yeah, for my birthday. It’s nothing, really.” The embarrassment at having forgotten was written all over his face, but it truly didn’t bother me. “Anyways,” I said hastily, trying to change the subject, “what’re you up to today, Buck?”

“Nothing much,” he said with a shrug, looking around the room in yet another attempt to appear casual. He did that a lot, I noticed. Ever since coming out of cryo, he seemed to take a lot of care with his appearance. Not necessarily what he was wearing or how he looked, but just with how he acted around the rest of us. After the catastrophe with Tony, Bucky took a lot of care to ingratiate himself with the rest of the team. But everyone here had their own regrets and demons to carry; he didn’t realize he wasn’t alone anymore.

Slowly, I put my pen down on top of my notebook and straightened up. I had an idea.

“Well… if you’re not _too_ terribly busy later,” I teased with a smirk, “I could use some help with inventory in the med bay later.”

The tiniest smile came to his face—a rare sight—and he nodded quickly. “Yeah, I can be there.”

“Great. Meet me there about 4:00, 'kay?” He nodded again and then turned to leave without another word. “Oh, and Buck?” I called out. He quickly popped his head back into the room.

“Yeah?”

“Lemme take a look at that arm. Seems a bit stiff.” He’d dislocated his right shoulder on their last mission and while I’d set it right away, I wanted to make sure it was healing properly. The “supers”, as I called them—meaning Steve and Bucky—were always telling me not to worry. _We heal fast… No harm done… I’ve had worse…_ But I worried sometimes that they severely overestimated their capacity to withstand damage. It was my job to look out for them… and something I didn’t necessarily mind either. They’re my boys, after all. If I don’t look out for them, who will? God knows they won’t do it themselves…

 

* * *

 

Bucky was sitting on the exam table, wearing a white tank top and angled with his right shoulder facing towards me while I conducted the exam of his injured shoulder. He assured me that there wasn’t any pain and the stiffness was probably just from sleeping on it wrong the night before. But I was nothing if not thorough, and finished the exam as I would with any other patient, superhero or not.

Once I was finished, he rolled it a few times, causing the tight muscles to ripple under his skin, and then hopped down off the table. “Thanks, Doc,” he said with a smile, pulling a dark blue hoodie on over his tank top.

“Not technically a doctor yet,” I corrected him softly. He chuckled lightly as he tucked his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “Come on, let’s get to work on this inventory.” I shrugged off my lap coat and hung it on the coatrack, setting aside the clipboard with Bucky’s charts on it. Each member of the team had their own folder in the filing cabinet—with a corresponding folder on the computer hard drive—but Bucky’s was bigger than anyone else’s. I treated him more often than the others. Out of all of them, he seemed to be the most reckless in battle, willing to do anything to get the job done. It was… admirable, in a way; but wholly frustrating, on the other hand. It pained me a little bit to see him have such blatant disregard for his own safety at times.

Silently, he followed me into the supply room. As we walked into the room, I flipped on the overhead light and reached for the clipboard that hung on a hook by the door. “Alright,” I said, perusing the list I’d pre-printed a couple days ago. I’d intended to have it done already, but the team had returned from a mission shortly after printing, and a few of them needed my immediate attention. In the ensuing days, it’d been a whirlwind of winding down from the mission, and doing inventory on the stock room had been at the bottom of my list. “Let’s start with the antibiotics and work alphabetically by category from there, yeah?”

“Sure,” Bucky mumbled, stepping up to the metal shelving and starting at the top. “Looks like we’ve got Neomycin… Rifaximin… um, F—… Fura—“

“Furazolidine?” I questioned, checking the box next to _‘Rifaximin’_ on my list.

“Yeah,” he muttered back. “Amoxicillin… Penicillin… Ampicillin… Jesus, how many —cillins are there?”

I chuckled lightly at him, aiming not to make him too embarrassed. “You’d be surprised. What’s next?”

For the next two hours, we worked our way through the supply room, taking stock of every medication, medical supply, and sanitary item we kept there. It wasn’t the most glamorous part of my job—not that any part was glamorous, mind you—but it was an effective way to keep my mind off of other things. For just a little while, I could forget the world that lay beyond our complex, and just be in this room with someone I considered a very good friend.

“Well, Buck, whaddya say we call it a day?” I asked, hanging up the clipboard when every box had been checked.

He glanced up at the clock above the door and then looked back at me. I guessed it was about 6:45, and a glance at my wristwatch told me I was right. “Uh… isn’t there anything else you need help with?" he asked. "I really don’t have anything else to do, and I’d be grateful for it.”

“Bucky,” I laughed, patting him on his flesh-and-blood shoulder. “You seriously don’t know how much you’ve helped me today. I couldn’t ask you to do anything else. Let’s go see what’s cooking in the kitchen tonight, yeah?”

“Th-the kitchen?” he asked. It didn’t escape my notice how he stammered. “But I thought… maybe we could go to the gym before dinner?”

I gave him a level stare, mouth pressing into a firm line. “Buck… when have you ever known me to willingly go to the gym?” It wasn’t that I particularly _disliked_ working out, but… Squatting with my twenty-five pound kettlebell next to _Captain Freaking America_ on the bench press was nothing less than outrageously intimidating. Give me a brisk run around the lake any day.

“Besides,” I continued, stepping out into the brightly lit hallway and locking up the room behind me, “it’s my birthday, and there’s a pint of chocolate ice cream in the freezer with my name on it. I hope you can forgive me for skipping my work out.”

“Yeah, well…” He ran his hand through his hair and rubbed at the back of his neck. “I just… I’m not very hungry right now. We could go for a run, if you want?”

My eyes narrowed as I looked at him. I stood at nearly the same height at him, so I had a pretty clear view of his face. In addition to being able to read body language, I prided myself on being particularly good at reading facial expressions. For whatever, unfathomable reason… Bucky Barnes was nervous.

“Ooookay,” I replied, shifting my weight and placing both hands on my hips. “I’m not sure what this is all about, Buck… but I’m gonna go to the kitchen. You’re welcome to join me, or not. Your choice.” Turning away quickly, I began walked down the long, tiled hall. I wasn’t trying to be flippant or mean, but I couldn’t understand why he was acting so weird… and I had very little patience for games.

“Wait, wait!” Bucky called from where I’d left him, jogging steadily to catch up with me.

“You really don’t want to keep me from my ice cream much longer, Buck,” I said matter-of-factly. What the hell has gotten into him? I reached the end of the hall and swung a left back towards the living quarters. The kitchen and living room occupied one large room right at the front of that part of the complex, and we weren’t very far from it.

“Well… how 'bout you leave your ice cream til after dinner? I heard it’s not healthy to eat dessert first.”

I stopped dead in my tracks, just a few feet from the door to the living quarters. Turning slowly, I fixed him with the most heated glare I could muster. He skidded to a halt behind me, eyes wide and almost frantic. “First of all…” I started, my voice low, “I am a healthcare professional, so I’ll do what I want. Secondly: I don’t know how they did things in the 40s, but in the 21st century… you do not step between a girl on a mission for sweets and her target.”

Bucky took a few deep breaths and shrugged slightly. “Honestly… not much has changed there,” he breathed, laughing slightly. “Em, I’m just—“

Suddenly, the sound of utensils falling to the floor and Steve Rogers uttering a filthy curse word filled the air. I turned quickly towards the door to the kitchen, one eyebrow raised over the other quizzically. “Oh dear,” I muttered, stepping towards the door, “better go see what that was all about.”

I pressed against the door, which stood on swinging hinges like a ship’s galley, and began to walk through the doorway. “Emily, wait!” Bucky urged, lunging towards me. I guess he meant to grab the back of my shirt to stop me from going in, but he misjudged the distance and ended up pushing me right in the middle of my back, sending me catapulting over the threshold.

He yelled out a curse word on equal level with Steve’s and fell right along with me, falling over top of me but managing to support most of his weight on his cybernetic arm. My face hit the hardwood floor with a painful smack, and my head instantly began ringing from the impact. _Shit… that’s not good…_

Suddenly, I heard the sound of many people turning all at once. “Bucky?” Steve asked incredulously. Slowly, I lifted my head to look up at him. What I saw… was every single member of our team gathered in our kitchen, all staring at me and Bucky laying on the floor.

A colorful banner with the words “Happy Birthday!” spelled out on different panels was hung over the island, highlighted by even more colorful streamers arcing down from the ceiling. Wanda and Natasha were standing next to the island, surprised looks on their faces and a gigantic cake held between them. “Happy Birthday Emily!” was written in blue frosting on the top, ringed by little fondant flowers and leaves. Steve held a few forks in his hands already, and I could see the rest of them strewn all over the floor where he’d dropped them. Clint and Laura were sitting at the table with all the kids, trying not to laugh too loudly, Sam standing closely nearby with his signature smirk as he shook his head. Everyone else just stared, wide-eyed.

“Buck, I said 7:30,” Steve said pointedly, looking between the two of us. Bucky was still hovering over me, but I could feel the rumble of his laugh.

My mouth was still hanging slightly open, but I finally found the words to speak. “Did I seriously crash my own surprise party?” I asked, smacking my hand against the floor slightly.

Bucky leaned down so I could just barely see his face. He was smiling widely; a sight I’d only seen on rare occasion. “You just had to have your ice cream, didn’t you?” He popped up onto his feet and then reached down to help me, pulling me up with ease. After that, everyone began to laugh and talk to one another about the hilarity of the situation. I had to admit that it was pretty funny—if not mildly embarrassing. Normally, I didn’t much care for surprises… But in this case, technically, I’d done the surprising… So it wasn’t all bad.

In addition to the fabulous-looking cake, there were several pizzas laid out on the counter; one with extra pineapple, just the way I liked it. I looked up at Steve, who’d just finished picking up all the dirty spoons and placing them in the sink.

“Is this punishment for not agreeing to go out tonight?” I teased, sitting across from him on one of the many barstools lining the granite-topped island.

“Punishment?” he asked, opening the utensil drawer. “You wound me, Doc. I just figured… if you didn’t want to go out to party, we’d bring the party to you. Hope that’s okay…?” The look he gave me told me he was unsure, so I offered the widest smile I possibly could.

“The people I love and care about put in time and effort to make me feel appreciated on my birthday?” I looked over at Bucky, who gave me an apologetic glance. “Yeah, Steve… that’s totally okay.”

Looking at everyone gathered around, laughing and talking to each other, some of them offering me birthday wishes, I felt my heart begin to glow. It wasn’t very often that we all got to come together like this, and even rarer for it to be a happy occasion. Contributing to that happiness in even the smallest way was the best birthday present I could ask for.

**Author's Note:**

> Love you, Em. Happy birthday. :-* <3


End file.
